Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Nope to Obama hypnosis

I am not a John McCain fan. I am not a Barack Obama fan. I don't like any of them who ran, except Ron Paul. However, as a news woman, I have been concerned and perplexed by the media attention toward Obama, that now quite obviously swings hotly in favor of pure bias.

This week, half the known world is trailing Obama's every move in his rock star swing through Europe and the Middle East. Meanwhile, McCain submitted an Op-Ed piece to the New York Times to rebut an earlier piece they had published about Obama, and the NYT rejected it, claiming that they were looking for something that more closely "mirrors" what Obama had written.

And though I feel only revulsion toward a man who would say such a horrendous thing about his wife in public, I did feel a twinge of pity at this headline:

"LONE REPORTER GREETS MCCAIN PLANE: “In Manchester last night, there was just one reporter and one photographer waiting for McCain..."

Today, the McCain campaign released a clip of news anchors crying, swooning, following, and loving Obama. There's Chris Matthews feeling that ole thrill up his leg, Tucker Carlson's 'I have a crush' claim, and all the others. It is apparent we have lost any semblance of a free press.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/22/mccain-gets-history-of-th_n_114419.html

Its OK, McCain got a free pass on this one, as a major gaffe ended up on the cutting room floor. Just as he got a free pass on explaining the problems with the Iraq/Pakistan border. (There is no such border).

By not mobbing him, they are sparing him the embarrassment.

Barack is the hero du jour but the press will soon tire of him and be ready to vilify him. It is a shame that these guys in the media don't even pretend to be neutral anymore. Whatever happened to the old standard of "it gives the appearance of"?? But hey, at least we all know the custody status of Brittany Spears kids and the marital status of Madonna.

Elizabeth Prata said...

I heard about that one. It was perpetrated by CBS, I believe the only news outlet to be invited with McCain on his overseas trip. Not good.

But the overwhelming adoration tat supposedly objective news anchors don't even try to hide anymore...well, it's just a shame.

I agree with you about the feeding frenzy likely to happen during the inevitable vilification stage. Any bets on that stage happening before or after his election?

Yeah, and Madonna's out of control. So happy I know that now. :)

Christie said...

I heard all this press nonsense referred to as "infotainment". Have you seen the movie "Idiocracy"? This regular guy is frozen for some science experiment and when that goes awry, he wakes 500 years later (or some such span of time) and finds he is the smartest person on the planet. All of the bad programming - infotainment, reality t.v., etc. - has dumbed down everyone else on earth. I think that's where we're headed.

Clearly our media is falling at their job when they have a bias and it so clearly distorts how they report things. Obama is an interesting figure. New York Times just had an op-ed piece (I think) that discusses how difficult he is to make fun of.

Elizabeth Prata said...

LOL, I agree, soon it won't be hard to be the smartest person on the planet!

Iread that article about how the tv comedians are having a hard time getting a grasp on the Obama mocking. However, I think Jon Stewart is doing a great job...here's one from a few nights ago,

http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=1528

and Stewart's last night's Obama Quest was pretty funny too, I'm sure Hulu or Raw Replay will put it up soon.

I think you hit the nail on the head, the media has been under his sway but that sway is now distorting how they report. A shame...

Anonymous said...

McCain has given pretty much unlimited access to the press during both of his presidential runs. Obama is extremely scripted and tightly handled. Suprise questions are not allowed.

Chuck

Elizabeth Prata said...

and still they flock to him:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/07/24/article-
0-020E3A3600000578-500_468x293_
popup.jpg

It must be frustrating as all get out for McCain

Anonymous said...

True Chuck but the media who have access to Mr McCain seem to appreciate it and therefore give him a free pass on all his gaffes and misinformation. Neither version of media coverage benefits the average voter, the ho-hum he's a good guy so I won't nail him nor the woo-hoo he's a rock star. (A) They need to treat both candidates alike and (B) neither of these paradigms should be how they treat them.

Anonymous said...

anonymous

When McCain ran in the primary against George Bush, the media followed him around and sang his praises. Those days are gone. This is the general election and they are slavishly following every grin and hand wave of Obama. The idea that CBS- which went out of its way to manufacture negative news against Bush ultimately costing Dan Rather his job- would now be protecting McCain is laughable. If John McCain- or any Republican- were going overseas during a presidential campaign there would not be the media fawning that has happened here. NBC is blatant in its adoration of him. The lopsided attention paid to Obama is evident to all but his most blinded devotees.

Chuck